hardy fuchsia suggestions?

Looking through the forums I can see this has come up in the past, but I'm looking for truly hardy, shrubby, fuchsia varieties. So many 'hardy' ones get cut down to near ground level each winter. I have 'Mrs Popple', who makes a decent shrub, trimmed down to about 6ft each winter, it puts on another couple of feet over the summer and is a mass of flower for months. I don't like small-flowered Fuchsia [so none of your Magellanica types!], and when I got Mrs Popple, many years ago, I was told 'She's got about the biggest flowers of anything truly hardy'. 30 Years on I wonder if anyone's found some other good ones. Oddly even Mrs Popple is never listed as much over a metre tall, so it's hard to trust given heights.

 

Hi and Welcome to the Forum,

Have grown Mrs Popple for many years but in a more shady spot and rarely get it growing over 4ft high.
Generally cut them down to near ground level each year as being in a northern area they do not seem to regrow readily from last years branches if left uncut.

Do find Lady Boothby in a sunnier location can be left uncut most years and it will regrow from the top and base, already in flower this year., grows to about 8ft for us.

Celia Smedley is said to grow quiet large, though we train it as a 4ft-5ft standard, do not find its as hardy as the above two and the branches can seem quiet brittle if it gets very windy, probably due in part to the heavy load of big flowers, which can be quiet stunning when in full bloom.

 

Hi @hidunc@ntlworld. com , first of all



Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Well, now your asking... there are probably hundreds out there but you have narrowed it down a little by saying that you don6like the Magellanica types ( how could you, Hawkshead is absolutely stunning and brightens up a dark corner ) .

So anyways, probably some of the most popular are..............


s = single
s/d = semi double
d = double

Garden News, d pink/magenta
Delta's Sarah s/d white/light blue
Dollar Princess d cerise/rich purple
Ravenslaw s all rich red
Tennessee Waltz d rose/lilac
Army Nurse d red/blue mauve
Wicked Queen d red/deep blue with pink splashes
Display a rose pink/darker pink
Joan Cooper s pale rose/cherry red
Prosperity d crimson/ pale rose with red
markings
Rufus s red/Turkey red
The Tarns s pink/Violet blue
Alice Hoffman s/d light red/white with red veins
Dorothy Hanley d dark red/dark aubergine
Lady Bacon s white/violet

If you want large flowers then the largest of any hardy Fuchsia are Wicked Queen, probably followed by Garden News.

Have fun choosing

 

Hi @ricky101 , I purposely left out Lady Boothby as it needs support and is classed as a climber/scrambler ( also quite small flowers , part of the Magellanica family ). Celia Smedley is only half hardy.

 

Interest piqued
Googled.
Found.
Hooked

 

Well done @Sian in Belgium

But, just to point out, it has to be grown in shade otherwise you don't get the sparkling white with green tips, you get a pale murky pink colour. It's not one for sun at all ( similar to quite a few of the purer white Fuchsias ).

PS..... I love your little men with the funny eyes

 

Many thanks, KFF.
I have tried quite a few from that list over the years. I remember the excitement when Garden News came out - I was an avid fan of the mag. I found that they all tended to die down quite a long way though, and I'm really looking for something permanent.
I suddenly succumbed to 'Paula Jane' yesterday, new in at Aldi, which impressed me with really strong 45cm shoots and prolific blooms [obviously tunnel-grown though, so over-lush]. We shall see.
I went back to our old house today. Since we left in 2008 Mrs Popple is still arching over the back door, with a trunk like an oak!

Thanks to all for your suggestions, may get acclimatised to small blooms one day...

 

Hi

Doctor Foster is a tough as old boots once it gets estabished so does need protection the first winter ....

 

Thanks. I looked him up and he's a dead ringer for Mrs Popple! But born ten years apart.

 

Sorry @hidunc@ntlworld. com ,

Mrs Popple is bright red and purple with sepals that open straight.

Doctor Foster is Scarlet and violet and the sepals turn upright at the end when fully open. This is also a larger flower than Mrs Popple.

 

Ah, thanks. I find Mrs Popple very variable, like most, according to weather and temperature, and, looking at dozens of pics, likewise Dr Foster. I did notice that Dr Foster sepals often turn up, whereas on my Mrs Popple, they usually curve down, around the corolla, but Mrs Popple's petals, although purple around the edges, are usually a pale violet from the centre to near the edges, unless in full sun. Dr. Foster is certainly worth looking at. Hopefully I can find some greater variation in colour too.